It's Not Me, It's You
by Purpleware
Summary: After Whoville is rescued from certain doom and everyone is safe, JoJo finds himself getting back into the normal swing of things.
1. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

It was a lovely morning in the city of Whoville as the sun shone upon its tiny inhabitants. This day was a very special one. The reason, you ask? Why, it was the first day of the new school year! (A collective groan from every Who kid in Whoville; except for the nerds …they loved school). There was one particular household that was especially chaotic during this time. And that household held the mayor of this fair city, along with his wife and children; all ninety-seven of them.

"Hurry _up_!"

"You've been in there forever!"

"I'm going to be late for school!"

These were all complaints coming from a few of the many daughters of Mayor McDodd. There was an unusually long line stemming from the closed door of their sole bathroom. With ninety-six young females, it was hard to _not_ have such a long bathroom line in the mornings. Or any time, really. Fortunately for the eldest and only son this would not be a problem. JoJo had planned well ahead of time and woke up before the crack of dawn. By the time everyone else in the house had just started to stir he was awake, dressed and ready to start the day.

In the dining room JoJo was sitting at his usual spot at the table, waiting patiently for his mother to come down and get breakfast started.

"Good morning!" came the cheerful voice of Sally O'Malley.

"Morning, Mom," JoJo greeted, giving his mother a half-smile.

Sally walked over to her son and planted a big kiss on the top of his messy black hair. JoJo tried not to roll his eyes at the affectionate gesture. Ever since the big incident with the entire town almost being destroyed (and JoJo being the one to stop it), his mother had been paying more attention to him. She was doing stuff like kissing him on the head and calling him pet names. And it wasn't just his mother. It seemed the whole town had suddenly remembered he existed. Whenever JoJo left the house he'd get greetings and handshakes from almost every random Who he came across. Sure, for the first couple of days he found it amusing and maybe even a little bit flattering but its novelty wore off pretty quickly.

The seats at the table were slowly starting to fill up as his sisters made their way into the dining room and in no time it was the noisy mad house that JoJo was so accustomed to. His father had also joined them and at the moment his attention was on Helen who was telling him about the "interesting" dream that she had last night. And to his father's credit, he really seemed interested in what his daughter had to say. That was one thing JoJo admired about his father. He was very family-orientated. Even with ninety-seven kids and a wife, he still managed to find time for each and every one of them. Not that JoJo would actually say something like that out loud.

Ever since Ned told JoJo he could be whatever he wanted (including _not_ being the mayor of Whoville), the stress of living up to his father's high expectations had vanished. This caused JoJo's attitude to improve greatly. He wasn't sulky or sullen like he used to be. He was even smiling more. But the young teen was still quiet and kept to himself most of the time. He was also still wearing black, the little emo.

After a hearty breakfast of green eggs and ham everyone left the house to go about their daily business. For JoJo and some of his sisters that meant getting on the school bus. Being the oldest, he was responsible for the thirty or so girls that also rode the bus with him to school. It would seem like a daunting task to anyone else, but JoJo didn't mind it and his sisters looked up to and respected him, so they always listened to what he had to say.

Meanwhile another Who somewhere else in Whoville wasn't having as easy a time controlling their younger siblings.

"Mason! Milo! You two get back here!"

Marley McCoy watched haplessly as her the two twins ran in every direction other than the one with the route to their bus stop. They were laughing loudly as they chased each other. It was almost time for the bus to pick them up, and those two were still playing around.

"If we're late, so help me I'll…"

The familiar sound of the school bus approaching caused Marley to swiftly turn around. She glanced back at her brothers and then at the bus. Deciding it would be one of those 'every-Who-for-themselves' moments, she hurried towards the large, florescent yellow vehicle. It fortunately had stopped to let on the other kids from their neighborhood. Just as Marley was about to climb on, two dark purple blurs rushed pass, knocking into her and causing her to lose her balance. She had to grab ahold of the door's side in order to prevent herself from falling over backwards. It took her a few seconds to compose herself.

"You gettin' in or what, kid?" the driver asked from behind the wheel.

Marley nodded – feeling a bit embarrassed – and hurried inside the bus. The doors automatically closed behind her and the bus started moving. She searched the sea of faces until she found her brothers sitting together at a window seat. She made her way over to them and started to sit down.

"Hold it!" Mason commanded, holding out his hand in a 'stop' gesture.

"What now?" Marley asked, very exasperated at this point. She saw no fit reason why she couldn't sit with them. The bus seats were spacey enough for three Who children to fit comfortably, as they always have been.

"This seat is reserved," Milo stated, taking off his backpack and plopping it into the space between him and his brother.

Marley said nothing as she glared down at the grinning twins.

The two Whos really were identical in every sense of the word. They had the mischievous grey eyes that never seemed to settle on any one thing for too long. They even dressed alike: plum and pale purple striped fur outfits with fluffed collars and long sleeves. The only difference between them was their hair. Although both were the same dark shade of purple, Milo's was bone straight and always untidy while Mason's was short and curly.

Marley on the other hand looked nothing like them, with her dark green eyes, brown and olive striped fur attire and curly brown hair that was always pulled in a big puffy bun on the top of her head. Whos often wouldn't believe her when she told them they were related. Marley closed her lids and pinched the skin between her eyes with her thumb and forefinger. She sometimes didn't want to believe it herself.

"Hey you!" barked the bus driver. "Sit down!" He was glaring at her in the rear view mirror. It wasn't that the driver had some sort of personal vendetta against Marley, he didn't know her. On the contrary, he was more concerned about her safety. Standing on a moving bus with no support could have very disastrous results, for both of them. And from years of being a school bus driver, he found the students to be more compliant when he was loud and firm.

This little outburst caused the other Who children to stop what they were previously doing and focus their attention on the only Who not sitting. Of course, that Who was Marley and all eyes went instantly on her. She hung her head in humiliation and shuffled over to the nearest empty seat, which was at the back of the bus.

Marley quickly sat down, her eyes downcast and her head still hung low. She only looked up when she heard a faint cough.

"Ahem."

JoJo cleared his throat, in order to get the attention of the girl who decided to invade his personal space. She quickly looked up at him, her cheeks still tinted pink. Her eyes widened when she realized who it was she was sitting next to. If there was one thing JoJo wasn't too big on, it was company. That was why he always sat at the back of the bus, by himself. JoJo might have become friendlier in the past couple of months but the Who still liked his personal space.

Marley began looking around in order to find another seat to occupy. She could see Milo and Mason sitting and talking with some random Who boy she'd never met before. And the rest of the bus was filled; there were no other empty spaces. Also, Marley was certain that the driver would yell at her again if she even _thought_ about getting up. She turned back to JoJo, a pleading look in her eyes. She had nowhere else to go.

With a shrug of his shoulders JoJo turned away from the Who girl and continued to stare out the window at the passing scenery. "It's okay, you can sit here."

Marley let out a sigh of relief and leaned back into her chair. Well, this was an interesting start to the new school year.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

In no time the bus reached its destination and pulled in the front of Whoville High, the largest and oldest high school in Whoville. The Who children filed out of the bus, one by one and moved into the school building. Marley had long ago given up on finding her brothers in the crowd and instead made the trip to her homeroom. On her way there, she met up with her best friend since childhood: Izzy LaBelle, a bright, pink and plucky young Who whose dream it was to become a famous scientist one day.

"Howdy, Mar-Mar!" Izzy greeted, grinning widely and pushing her large glasses back up the bridge of her nose.

"Hey, Izzy," Marley replied, giving her friend a hug. "How was your summer?"

"Well, beside the fact that our entire _existence_ was put in grave danger and there was a very real possibility that we all could have _died_! ...Pretty good. The temporary snow was a nice change as well."

The two girls joked and giggled as they walked together. Inside the tenth grade homeroom was alive with the chatter and buzz of the Who kids as they talked eagerly amongst themselves.

"Alright everyone, time to settle down," Mr. Pickler said once the bell rang. He moved to the front of the class and went on to talk about school policies, upcoming major school events and what was expected of them now that they were one grade higher. When he was finished, he started handing out the individual lesson schedules. Marley happily took hers, hoping that she had gotten into her first-choice elective. With a smile she noted it was indeed there: Whostory.

"It looks like it's another year of Whostory for us!" Marley said gleefully, turning to Izzy.

"Oh, I'm not taking Whostory anymore," Izzy replied, her eyes scanning over her own schedule. She pushed up her glasses.

"What?" Marley's smile dropped. "Why?"

"I'm focusing more on the sciences. I have no need for Whostory. I'm more interested in the future!" Izzy looked sheepishly up at her friend. "You're …not mad, are you?"

"Of course not!"

Meanwhile, a few seats away from Marley and Izzy, JoJo was looking over his own schedule. Whostory. Great. JoJo wasn't exactly fascinated with Whostory. Really, he couldn't care less about the subject. He only chose it during his last week of ninth grade in order to please his father. That was before the whole incident with Horton. And of course with all of that going on he forgot to resign from the class. Now he didn't have the tiniest need for the subject and was stuck with it for a whole year. Just great.

The bell rang again, signaling the beginning of the first class of the year. All the Who girls and boys packed up their bags and headed out of the door. Mr. Pickler waved his homeroom students goodbye and wished them all good luck on their first day back at school.

Izzy and Marley went their separate ways; the former to her chemistry class and the latter to Whostory. It took a little while for Marley to find her new classroom, having never been in certain sections of the school before. But she reached just in time, right as the teacher began talking.

A tall, skinny, aqua and pink female Who was standing in front of a large blackboard. The words 'Ms. Liu' were written in bright white chalk across its shiny surface.

"Good morning class!" she greeted in a bright, cheery voice. "I'm Ms. Liu and I'm here to teach you everything you need to know about Whostory."

JoJo sat slumped in his seat, his chin resting in his palm and his eyes already half closed. He was ecstatic.

After roll call, Ms. Liu began handing out small paper booklets to the class. "This," she started to explain. "Is the instructions and guide you'll need for your first Whostory project."

Most of the students groaned loudly and grumbled about the injustice of having to work so hard when the first day of school wasn't even half over yet. Ms. Liu gave a snicker at her class' lack of enthusiasm.

"Don't worry; you won't be graded on it. But that doesn't mean I expect any less from any from you. This project is mainly to show how much Whostory you've learned so far. And also for practice, because your next project will _definitely _be graded.

"Because you won't be working for a grade, you'll instead be working for a prize. But I can't reveal what it is until presentation day!"

The teens murmured excitedly to each other. This certainly got the attention of everyone, well almost everyone. JoJo was still uninterested.

"Open your booklets to the third page. There's a list of possible topics for your project. All of them are important events and Whos that you've learned about in the past years. You and your partner are going to make an essay on your topic of choice and present it in front of the class. You can use models, costumes, anything. Just be creative!"

Ms. Liu took a seat behind her desk and pulled out the list of her students' names. "I will be choosing your partners."

Another collection of grumbles and Ms. Liu snickered again. She began to slowly read off names, two at a time:

"Karina Moodie, Nelson Penson."

"Penelope Billing, Dollie Hornman."

"Jessie Lor, Javier Bertone."

"Marley McCoy, JoJo McDodd."

Marley's eyes instantly flew up at the mention of her and JoJo's names. They were going to be project partners? She was thrilled at her good fortune. JoJo was the mayor's son, so she figured he must be an expert on Whostory. His entire family lineage took up more than half of it, after all.

JoJo rolled his eyes and slumped further into his seat. Of course with his luck he would have to work on a project for his most hated subject. And with some Who he didn't even know. JoJo just hoped the guy wasn't as terrible in Whostory as he was.

Ms. Liu read off the last two names and put away her list. "Now that that's done, it's time for everyone to pair off and begin planning their projects. Chop, chop. You have until the end of this period."

Everyone got up to sit with their aforementioned partner. Marley wasted no time in picking up her bag and chair and moving to where JoJo was sitting.

"Hi," she said, raising a hand in greeting once she reached his desk.

JoJo glanced up and was promptly confused at the sight. His eyebrows raised slightly, one higher than the other. The Who standing in front of him wasn't a boy, like JoJo was expecting. No, it was a girl; the girl from the bus, to be more precise.

JoJo was making no effort in hiding his bewilderment and Marley was becoming increasingly anxious under his astonished gaze. She set down her chair on the opposite side of his desk and took a seat. By that time JoJo went back to a neutral expression, almost to the point of looking downright bored.

"It's nice to meet you JoJo. I hope you're as excited as I am to start on our project!"

JoJo arched one eyebrow, while the rest of his face remained stoic.

Marley let out a nervous chuckle. "…Right. Well let's get started. I was thinking we could choose between…"

At that point JoJo started to tune out the female Who. What was her name? …Marley? JoJo thought that was a very odd name to give a girl. All of the Marleys he'd ever known were guys. JoJo also began to notice that this female Marley couldn't seem to stop talking. Her mouth never stayed closed for more than half a second. She prattled on and on about the project. Not that JoJo actually heard what she was saying. It all sounded like gibberish to him …another language. Only half-listening to someone could do that.

"Is that okay?"

"Huh?" JoJo was brought out of his thoughts by the girl's sudden question. She looked at him, awaiting his answer. Apparently she hadn't noticed him not paying any attention. "Uh …sure?"

"Great!" She said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a pen and notepad. She quickly scribbled something down and tore out the page, handing it to JoJo. "That's my address, my house shouldn't be too hard to find. And there's my number too, just in case it is. But you don't have to worry about me finding your house. I already know where you live!"

Realizing how creepy and stalker-ish that sounded, Marley quickly corrected herself. "I-I mean, with you being the mayor's son and all, _everyone_ knows where you live…" she trailed off into a nervous chuckle which trailed off into an uncomfortable silence.

The bell rang again and everybody began moving their chairs back to their proper locations and packing up. "I'll call you later today to discuss the days we'll be over at each other's houses." And with that, Marley picked up her chair and moved back to the front of the class.

The room quickly emptied but JoJo was still sitting at his desk, staring at the piece of paper in his hands. Him at _her_ house? She over at _his_ house? …What did he just agree to?

Ms. Liu looked up from the papers on her desk to see JoJo still sitting in his seat. "Is everything alright, JoJo?"

Without looking at her, JoJo gave his teacher a quick nod and hopped off his chair. He gathered his things and strode out of the classroom, balling up Marley's notepad paper and stuffing it into his pocket.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Well here's the second chapter. And I also just wanted to say thanks for the reviews! (Didn't think I was going to get any, heh).<strong>


	3. Chapter Three

**Author's Note: Thanks for the review, RomansRoad. I try to make believable and realisticOCs when writing fanfics like this. Nobody wants to read about a MarySue. I'll try to keep the story interesting. (:  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Chapter Three<strong>**

Later that afternoon, JoJo was sitting in his usual spot during lunchtime: outside, under a large sycamore tree. It was enough of a distance away from the school so that the other kids' noise wouldn't disturb him but close enough to still be considered on the school's grounds.

He leaned back against the tree's trunk and closed his eyes, enjoying the cool September breeze that passed over him. It was times like this he found to be the most relaxing, besides being at the observatory of course. He took a pen out of his backpack and gently started tapping it on his knee. He soon got a neat little rhythm going. That was one of JoJo's talents he was most thankful for. He could hear music in just about anything, from the tapping of an old typewriter to the rhythmic bounce of a ball. If it had a beat, JoJo was sure to catch it and turn it into something beautiful.

He looked around inside his bag for anything else he could possibly make music out of, but when that search proved futile he went to digging around in his pockets. His good mood dampened a little when his fingers brushed against the crumpled piece of paper. He pulled it out and smoothed it down to read over the words again.

'_Her handwriting is so ...neat,' _JoJo thought to himself. It was a big difference from his writing style, which his mother constantly referred to as 'darn near illegible' (although he personally didn't think it was _that_ bad). And she wrote it in a very bright pink, so bright it would hurt your eyes if you stared at it for too long. He could also detect the faint scent of strawberries coming from the paper. JoJo mostly just used odorless, black inked pens.

It didn't take long for JoJo to realize that they were two very different Whos. With a deep frown he put the paper back in his pocket and continued to make up a beat from the tapping of his pen.

* * *

><p>Finally the long day had ended and all of the Who girls and boys were free to go home. Some walked, some waited for their parents to pick them up and the rest rode the school buses. Once JoJo and his sisters were dropped off at their stop, they made their short trek home. JoJo quietly lead the large group of giggling girls. So deep in his thoughts, he almost didn't feel the hand tapping on his shoulder. He looked back to see one of his sisters, Harley, smiling at him. He gave her a little half smile.<p>

"How was your first day of school, JoJo?"

JoJo's smile disappeared. "Fine," he mumbled, looking down.

Satisfied with that answer and not noticing his change in mood, Harley went back to talking with her sisters. JoJo really didn't want to, but he supposed he would _have_ to tell his parents about the arrangements sooner or later. But not today. Next week, maybe.

The group of young teens ambled through the door, adding to the noise that was already going on in the McDodd household. "How was everyone's day?" Ned yelled over the racket. He got about ninety-six variations of the word "great". And he promised to listen to each of their individual stories at dinner.

JoJo silently went upstairs to his room. He felt exhausted. Maybe waking up before the crack of dawn to beat the bathroom rush wasn't such a good idea after all. He'd have to think up a better solution tomorrow. Wordlessly, he dropped his backpack near the door, emptied the contents of his pockets onto his desk and collapsed onto his bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

A few hours later, JoJo awoke feeling much more rested. He looked at the clock on his wall and saw that it was dinner time. So he went down into the dining room where the rest of his family was already seated. JoJo timed it perfectly so that he effortlessly fell back onto his chair as it whizzed past him.

The mayor was taking twenty seconds with each of his daughters and in that twenty seconds he intently listened as they told him about their first day of school. Then, it finally came time for JoJo's turn. His chair glided and stopped directly in front of where his parents were sitting.

"So how was your day, Sweetie?" Sally asked, cutting up the food of the youngest McDodd daughter.

"It was fine," JoJo replied with a casual shrug.

"Meet anyone new?" Ned inquired, cutting a piece of roast beast and putting into his mouth.

JoJo shook his head. For a split second he was tempted to tell them about Marley and their Whostory project but he decided against it. So he kept quiet until his time was up and his chair slid away.

Later that evening, after dinner was eaten and dishes were cleaned, JoJo made his way towards the front door. Now that his parents were completely fine with the observatory he frequented during the nights, he found he didn't have to sneak out anymore.

The phone rang and Sally picked it up, answering with a polite "McDodd residence."

…

"Oh, really? Well, that's wonderful."

…

"Yes, he's still here. I'll get him."

JoJo's hand was already on the doorknob when his mother called out for him. "JoJo, there's a phone call for you!"

With an annoyed huff JoJo turned back around and went to his mother, who had her hand over the lower end of the receiver. Sally smiled down at her son and handed him the phone. "It's a Marley McCoy."

JoJo froze, the receiver clutched in his hands. What little colour was in his face had already drained away. How could he forget? She _told_ him she would be calling. Did his mom already know? From the look she was giving him, he guessed that she did. He put the receiver up to his ear.

"_Hello? JoJo? It's me, Marley_," she stopped and chuckled nervously. JoJo noted that she did a lot of that. "_I guess you already knew, your mom probably told you who was. I don't know why I said that. …I'm rambling aren't I? Anyway, I came up with a schedule for our project meet-up days. I can give you a copy of it tomorrow. Oh and just so you know in advance, the first meeting is on Wednesday after school. Is that okay with you?_"

JoJo scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, sure." He glanced up at his mother, who was just standing there, with that silly look still on her face. Why was she still there?

"_Well, that's good. I guess I'll see you later. Bye_."

Click.

"I thought you said you didn't meet anyone new," Sally said as soon as JoJo hung up the phone.

"She's nobody," JoJo responded with a shrug.

"JoJo McDodd!" Sally chided. "You shouldn't talk about someone like that. She seems like a very nice girl." Sally put her hand up to her chin in thought. "Hm… Why don't you invite her to have your little study session over here? And ask her if she could stay for dinner too."

JoJo gave his mother the most respectful 'are-you-crazy?' look he could muster. But she paid no mind to him. Instead she went into the TV room, no doubt to tell her husband all about what she just found out. JoJo shook his head and left for the observatory, not wanting to be there when his father heard.


End file.
